TWIN FALLS, Idaho β Children across Idaho are counting down the minutes until Santa arrives, but sometimes financial pressures can be too much for families experiencing housing insecurity, resulting in a sparse holiday haul.
The Twin Falls School District, along with individual and organizational sponsors, works to make Christmas dreams come true for underprivileged kids.
WATCH: School District helps kids in need during the holidays
Twin Falls School District's Eva Craner told me about why they do what they can to connect kids and families in need with a little holiday boost.
"What happens in the home impacts what happens in the classroom, so we want to make sure that our kids are taken care of in all the ways that we can as a school district," Craner said.
School let out for the final time of 2025 last week, and many students are eager for the winter break and hopeful for Christmas.
"Every year we identify over 400 students who are experiencing homelessness in our community, and that can be really challenging just in day-to-day life and especially challenging around the holiday season," Craner said.
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Jenny Herzog from the Twin Falls School District collected hats knitted by individuals around Twin Falls.
"We have a couple of people in the community that every year do these amazing hats, they're so cute," Herzog said.
The handmade hats took somebody weeks to put together.
"They're all individual colors that each kid can choose. You know what color they like," Herzog said.
Herzog spent most of December getting wish lists to donors and collecting gifts to be distributed for Christmas.
"We've been planning and working with the donor in the community for over a month," Herzog said.
Herzog explains how the Twin Falls School District, with the help of community partners, wants to support students experiencing housing insecurity.
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"Maybe they're living in a motel, or they're living in a trailer, or in a shelter transitional," Herzog said.
The goal is to provide a little relief for families who are already strapped for cash, at a time of year when many families incur some debt to make those spirits bright.
"We're able to really support these families in meaningful ways so that they get the food, the kids don't miss out on a meaningful Christmas, and then come back to school in January with by-and-large similar experience to their peers," Craner said.
- This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
